Boeing, Northrop Statements On Tanker Ruling

Boeing was informed today that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found in Boeing’s favor on a number of issues related to its protest of the U.S. Air Force’s award of a $35 billion contract to supply the service with its next-generation aerial refueling aircraft – or KC-X tankers – to begin replacing the current fleet of KC-135 tankers.

In response to the ruling, Boeing released the following statement from Mark McGraw, vice president, Tanker Programs:

"We welcome and support today's ruling by the GAO fully supporting the grounds of our protest.

"We appreciate the professionalism and diligence the GAO showed in its review of the KC-X acquisition process. We look forward to working with the Air Force on next steps in this critical procurement for our warfighters."

Statement Concerning GAO Decision

The following is the statement of Randy Belote, Vice President of Corporate & International Communications for Northrop GrummanCorporation:

"We respect the GAO's work in analyzing the Air Force's tanker acquisition process. We continue to believe that Northrop Grumman offered the most modern and capable tanker for our men and women in uniform. We will review the GAO findings before commenting further."

The Air Force is aware of the Government Accountability Office’s report and will review the findings & recommendations. We will release a statement this afternoon.